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InfoWars has a platform again, thanks to a new Roku channel (updated)
Last year, amid heated criticism over the conspiracy theories it spread about events like the Parkland, Florida and Sandy Hook school shootings, InfoWars -- along with owner Alex Jones -- started to its see reach diminished as one by one, platforms began to remove its content from their services. But now, months after many outlets banned InfoWars and Jones, Roku has given them their own channel. Digiday reported the move today, one that has already sparked backlash across social media.
Google Walkout leaders call for transparency on sexual misconduct
The organizers of the Google employee walkout have outlined how they want the company to address sexual misconduct at the company, and they're quite clear in their demands. The Walkout for Real Change group is primarily focused on accountability and transparency, starting with an end to forced arbitration for harassment and discrimination cases, which tends to keep cases secret. This would give staff the power to take these cases to court. Employees also want the right to bring a "co-worker, representative or supporter" with them when meeting human resources to discuss claims.
Instagram uses machine learning to spot bullying in photos
Instagram can already thwart some bullying in comments. Now, however, it can do the same for photos. The social service is introducing a system that uses machine learning to "proactively" spot bullying in photos and their captions. Human moderators will still review the content before making a judgment call, but this theoretically catches harassment that might not be reported for a while, if at all. You'll see the feature roll out over the "coming weeks."
Facebook adds new tools to address harassment and bullying
Facebook is releasing a handful of new tools aimed at protecting people from bullying and harassment. First, users will soon have new methods of dealing with harassing comments. When a user finds that comments on their post are negative, hurtful or in any way unwanted, they'll be able to hide or delete multiple comments at one time. The feature is rolling out now on desktop and Android and should be available on iOS in the coming months. Additionally, Facebook says it's also testing ways for users to easily search for and block certain words from showing up in their comments, though there's no word yet on when that function might be available.
Uber will pay 56 employees a total of $1.9 million for harassment claims
Uber is nearing a final settlement regarding numerous sexual harassment and discrimination claims. Bloomberg reports today that 56 current and former employees who filed claims of sexual harassment will split $1.9 million, receiving just under $34,000 each on average. Additionally, members of a class action suit who claimed the company discriminated against women and people of color, will each receive nearly $11,000 apiece on average as part of a $10 million settlement.
Stitcher removes Alex Jones’ podcast from its platform
While Facebook, YouTube and Spotify have taken down a handful of videos and podcast episodes from Alex Jones' pages, Stitcher has now gone a step further, removing his entire podcast from its platform. Last night on Twitter, the company said that it had reviewed Jones' podcasts and "found he has, on multiple occasions, harassed or allowed harassment of private individuals and organizations." Stitcher also noted that Jones' targeted harassment -- which has been directed towards parents of Sandy Hook victims and students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, among others -- has led his listeners "to engage in similar harassment and other damaging activity." Because of these actions, it said it would remove Jones' podcasts from the Stitcher platform.
Spotify users still can't block followers, but that could change
Spotify isn't as much of a haven from harassment as many might like. Since the service shares your plays with followers by default, it's possible for harassers to keep up with your listening habits and exploit that to their advantage (say, by finding out when you're in a sad mood). The company has remained quiet on the prospect of a blocking feature in response to this, but it now appears to be more receptive to the idea. BuzzFeed News has discovered that Spotify recently labeled a years-old request for a user blocking feature as a "good idea." It's not on the company's "current" roadmap, according to the notice, but that's a distinct improvement from the approach so far.
Twitter acquires online safety company to bolster anti-abuse efforts
Twitter has repeatedly come under fire for not doing enough to stop hate speech, allowing outside groups to sow political discord and failing to limit the spread of misinformation. To address these issues, the company announced earlier this year that it was looking for outside experts to help in its effort to promote healthy, open and civil conversations on its platform. Now, it's acquiring a company that might be able to boost those efforts internally.
UK to introduce internet safety laws within 'next couple of years'
The UK government is acting on its vow to make the internet safer... whether or not companies like the idea. In the wake of the Internet Safety Green Paper, Digital Secretary Matt Hancock has unveiled plans for online safety laws that will tackle cyberbullying, child exploitation, extremism and other "legal and illegal harms." Government ministries, charities and the public will work together on a white paper later in 2018 that will "set out" the legislation, with Hancock expecting the laws to be ready within the "next couple of years."
With Squadbox, friends moderate harassing messages in your email
Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed a tool aimed at fighting harassment online. It's called Squadbox and the idea behind it is to have your friends or coworkers moderate your incoming messages for you. The research team interviewed a number of people who had experienced online harassment in the past and then designed Squadbox's features based on those conversations.
Microsoft faces 238 complaints of gender discrimination
Microsoft has been accused of 238 cases of gender discrimination or sexual harassment by female employees working in US-based technical jobs, according to court filings made available this week. The complaints were made between 2010 and 2016, and include systemically denying pay rises or promotions to women working at the company. The plaintiff's attorneys are pushing to proceed as a class action lawsuit, but a trial has not yet been scheduled.
Twitch clarifies its updated guidelines in new FAQ
Last month, Twitch announced that it would be updating its community guidelines in order to clarify its policies on harassment, hate speech and sexual content. But while they were initially set to go into effect on February 19th, Twitch decided to push that date back to March 5th in light of all of the questions it received over the new guidelines. At the time, Twitch said, "It's important [the guidelines] are clear to everyone and we need to better explain some sections, so we're pushing back enforcement to start March 5." It also said it was working on an updated FAQ regarding the guidelines, and today, Twitch released it.
Twitter asks for help fixing its toxicity problem
Twitter has definitely come under a lot of fire in recent years for issues ranging from not doing enough to stop harassment on its platform to allowing foreign actors to sow political discord. In the past, the company has tweaked its tools, giving individuals more options when it comes to controlling what they're exposed to online, as well as updated its guidelines a handful of times. But today, Twitter announced it's trying out another route -- asking people outside of the company to propose ways that it can promote healthy, open and civil conversations online.
Google faces lawsuit for firing critic of anti-diversity memo
Google fired James Damore last year, in part, because of a leaked memo alleging that the company culture unfairly targeted white males and political conservatives. Now Google is being sued by a former employee who claims he was targeted for speaking out against Damore on internal message boards, according to The Guardian. Tim Chevalier, a site reliability engineer who identifies as queer, transgender and disabled filed a lawsuit saying, in part, that he was ousted for "calling out discrimination and harassment for what it was."
Twitch postpones new rules to clarify vague expectations
Twitch is temporarily putting the brakes on its new rules for hate speech, harassment and sexual material. The livestreaming service has postponed the enforcement of new rules from February 19th to March 5th in order to "better explain some sections" in the wake of feedback. The company hasn't explained just what those sections are (we've asked Twitch to elaborate), but there's a good chance it's addressing both streamers' oversight of their viewers as well as acceptable clothing.
Labor board says Google legally fired diversity memo writer
James Damore may claim Google was wrong to fire him over his memo criticizing the company's diversity culture, but a federal government overseer begs to differ. The National Labor Relations Board has published a January memo recommending a dismissal of Damore's then-active complaint. Board attorney Jayme Sophir found that Damore was protected under federal law when he criticized Google, but that he wasn't protected when he suggested that women were biologically inferior at programming. His remarks were likely to create "serious dissension and disruption" in the workplace, Sophir said, and that actuallly happened -- women pulled their candidacy for engineering positions after hearing of Damore's memo.
Twitch updates policies on hate speech, harassment and sexual content
The fight against online hate speech and harassment continues to gain momentum. Twitter's new policies against such behavior went live last November, while Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg began the new year with a new pledge to combat abuse and hate, too. Now video game live-streaming platform Twitch has updated its community guidelines to be clearer about what constitutes harassment, hate speech, and sexual content, which are all already prohibited. The new rules will go into effect February 19th at 9:00 AM Pacific Time.
Facebook introduces new tools to fight online harassment
Facebook has been rightfully criticized for how it has handled (or not handled) harassment and abuse in the past. But today, the company announced a couple of new tools aimed at fighting online harassment and giving users more control over who can interact with them.
Microsoft improves transparency for sexual harassment claims
The slew of sexual harassment disclosures in the entertainment business has started to influence the technology world, and Microsoft in particular sees this as an opportunity to rethink its policies. It's waiving the requirement for pre-dispute arbitration agreements in sexual harassment claims, which could keep complaints out of court and thus out of the public eye. The company already didn't enforce an arbitration clause relating to sexual harassment, but now wants to eliminate that obligation for the "limited number" of workers who would be affected.
Facebook reveals how it handles harassment inside US offices
Facebook has been publicly searching for a solution to harassment, hate speech and bullying on the site for years -- and at the same time, less publicly, the company has been honing its internal approach to these subjects. Today, Facebook published its US harassment policy, in full, in an attempt to "be as transparent as possible, share best practices, and learn from one another -- recognizing that policies will evolve as we gain experience," according to COO Sheryl Sandberg and VP of People Lori Goler.
